Chocolate Chip–Orange Cannoli (Cannoli di Ricotta)

1). You need the right proportion of filling to shell. In America, cannoli are often too large, with too much filling. These are tiny and delicate, perfect for eating in just a couple of bites.

2). Use high-quality ingredients. Sheep's-milk ricotta is the most traditional, but good fresh cow's-milk ricotta will work fine as well. Be sure to drain it for an hour to avoid watering down the filling. Good-quality candied orange peel is important as well. If you can't find any that's fresh and plump, substitute freshly grated orange zest.

3). Most importantly, don't fill the shells until you're ready to serve them. Both the filling and the shells can be made one day ahead, but to avoid soggy shells, don't pipe the filling into them until the last minute.

If you don't have a pastry bag, a one-gallon freezer bag with the end snipped off can be used to pipe the filling.

Preparation

Make dough

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon. Using fingertips or pastry blender, blend in butter just until mixture resembles coarse meal. (Alternatively, pulse in food processor.) Drizzle limoncillo over mixture and gently stir with fork until incorporated.

Turn out dough onto sheet of plastic wrap. (Dough will still look somewhat dry and crumbly.) Gather together into ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Make filling

In medium mixing bowl, stir together ricotta, sugar, chocolate chips, orange peel, and vanilla. Spoon mixture into pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch round tip and refrigerate until ready to use. (Filling can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated, covered.)

Form, fry, and fill shells

Cut dough into 4 even pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece to 1/8-inch thick. Using floured cookie cutter, cut out 2 to 3 rounds from dough. Transfer rounds to baking sheet and keep covered with plastic wrap. Roll out remaining dough and cut rounds in same manner, then gather scraps, roll out, and cut again.

Meanwhile, brush bottom edge of 1 dough round with egg white. Wrap dough around 1 cannoli tube with egg white–brushed end overlapping other end and gently press edges together to seal. Make 5 more shells in same manner. (Keep remaining rounds covered with plastic.)

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Reviews

These were GREAT! My daughter and I made these for a family dinner and they were consumed with gusto by everyone--some did not even wait for the coffee/espresso. I made my own candied orange peel, bought good quality ricotta (important step--don't get the "reduced fat" or other junk, and let it drain at least overnight). I did make a "substitution" in that I did not use the mini chips in the filling, but instead dipped the ends of the cannoli in some melted bittersweet chocolate, but that did not change the overall taste of the recipe and so I still feel like I can review this with impunity. Will definitely make this again!

I have never made cannoli before, but I really enjoyed this recipe! I don't have any grocery stores around that carry sheep's milk ricotta, but my filling still turned out great. I loved the quintessential combination of orange and chocolate. Local stores were sold out of cannoli tubes so I used portions of a wooden dowel. I would definitely make this again for a special occasion! If you plan on making this, be sure to set aside plenty of time for preparation and frying!

Divine! Made these
as the finale for an
Italian Christmas
eve dinner and
everyone was wowed.
The comments about
using quality
ingredients are
critical...used
sheep's milk ricotta
as the recipe
suggests (found it
in Whole Foods) and
homemade candied
orange peel. Used
safflower oil to fry
the shells and they
took a bit over a
minute apiece. Yum!

I have never been a fan of either a)
cannoli or b) the combination of
chocolate and orange. That said, I
was hosting a Sicilian night, and
the flavors in recipe are very
authentic. I made the shells and
the filling the day before and
filled the cannoli just before
serving the next day. I chose to go
the route of the orange zest instead
of the candied orange, and used good
quality fine chocolate instead of
chocolate chips. I also added a
few drops of orange essence. I was
really surprised at how wonderful
they tasted! The shells were the
perfect consistency and the filling
was not overly sweet, as one finds
in most restaurants. I will make
this recipe again, I'm sure.

I made this recipe
as
faithfully as I
could, but I missed
Christmas Eve by a
couple of weeks.
With unsifted flour,
I got 13 cannoli
shells at about 1/8"
thick. I'd love to
know if Mario
Batali's flour
measurement was for
sifted flour. I
measured it
unsifted, and after
45 minutes ended up
needing another
couple of TB of
limoncillo and
another 45 minutes
of refrigerator time
before the dough
would come together.
I also ended up deep
frying most shells
at about 2 minutes a
shell. The shells
that were most
successful were
rolled out a smidge
thinner than an
1/8", and they came
in at just over a
minute in the oil.
Use high quality
ingredients. I
can't emphasize this
enough. In addition
to the best ricotta,
get fresh, high
quality ground
cinnamon, high
quality cocoa
powder, splurge on
more expensive
vanilla extract, and
all
will reward you
richly with complex
flavors.
I also made the
Simple Candied
Orange Peel from
December 2008, I
can't imagine
substituting orange
zest.
So, is this worth
it? Well, the
effort is definitely
high, and I can
absolutely get
quality Cannoli in
the North End and
Medford, and still
would never pass up
a Ferrara's Cannoli
when I'm in Little
Italy. But these
surpassed all of the
above. I passed on
the traditional
sugar dusting -
these simply did not
need it!
One last point. My
wife grew up with
Cannoli filled in
the Bronx and
brought to her home
by her grandmother.
By the time they
arrived, they were
always a little
soggy. So I won't
argue about comfort
food. I filled her
shell earlier, and
it stood up to a bit
of soggy just fine.